RV Caravan: Upper Great Lakes

 

For our summer trip to “somewhere cooler,” we decided to join up with Yankee RV Tours and take the Upper Great Lakes tour which was recommended by fellow Southeast Country Coachers members who have made several Yankee trips.  We left Rome heading north and made an overnight stop at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington where we enjoyed a short bike ride on the adjacent Marquee Trail. Great trail with great scenery!

            

            

            

The next day we arrived at Jellystone RV Park in Frankenmuth, MI, where the caravan began.  There are 19 coaches of which 2 are the wagon master and tail ender.  Most are from Florida, but Oregon, New York, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia are also   represented.  Incidentally, in the group there are 2 men named Bill, 2 named John, and 5 Georges. 

Frankenmuth, a Bavarian community founded by Lutherans who came to bring Christianity to the Chippewa, is famous for its Bavarian architecture, German restaurants, and the largest Christmas store in the world.  In addition to getting to know the caravan members, we enjoyed seeing some of the sights of Frankenmuth including the beautiful flowers all over town.

             

The group ate dinner at the Bavarian Inn which is famous for the family style chicken dinner, (which we had) with numerous cold and hot side dishes.  Though he looks like a native in his German hat and vest, John below is a member of our caravan,

            

After dinner we enjoyed seeing the glockenspiel which performs several times a day.  After the musical numbers, the Pied Piper story was displayed.  George and I watched the “performance” also when we bicycled one afternoon. 

              

                            

                            

             

We took a river cruise on the Bavarian Belle, a Mississippi river boat that was bought by a Frankenmuth family, dismantled, and brought to the Cass River where the family operates it in the summer months.  The captain narrated the trip, telling about the area and pointing out landmarks including the covered bridge.

            

                            

            

            

An optional tour was to St. Lorenz Lutheran Church where a member gave an interesting history and tour.  The church’s beautiful stained glass windows tell both Biblical stories and the history of the church which began with the founding of Frankenmuth in 1845.  The name Frankenmuth came from Franconia, the area many of the settlers were from, and “muth” meaning courage which they would need for their mission.

            

                            

                            

A nice feature of the Yankee RV caravan is that we stay three days at most places, and one of those is a free day, so we explored Frankenmuth on our bicycles one afternoon.  We rode on a trail by the Cass River, downtown over the covered bridge, and to several shopping areas.

            

            

One of our stops was at Bronner’s – the world’s largest Christmas shop – where Irene found a few special ornaments.  The parking lot is decorated for Christmas all year, including this large Santa.                                                                                                                                                                         

FMCA Convention Perry GA

Heading north from Valdosta we arrived at Perry GA for the Family Motor Coach Association national convention. There were about 3,000 coaches in attendance.

At this event we looked at new motor homes and actually test drove a 37 ft. Tiffin Allegro Bus which we saw as a possible lateral move from our present coach. However, although the interior is modern and attractive, we found the quality of the cabinetry and interior woodwork, fasteners and fixtures not a match for our Country Coach. The coach drove well, but did not have as solid a feel as Country Coach. We also enjoyed seeing all the coach vendors in attendance, and attended several educational seminars..

The association hosts entertainment in the evenings. One of the headliner groups we heard was the Texas Tenors, winners of “America’s Got Talent.” We sat with friends Jack and Mary Lou, who had seen them perform before and knew that at one point in the show performer Marcus Collins would circulate in the audience, put his arm around people, and talk to them. It was Mary Lou’s dream to be so selected. When the time came in the show, George came up with a plan to make it happen. When Marcus got near, George shined a powerful LED flashlight in Mary Lou’s face like a spotlight. Marcus took the bait and went straight for her. George also managed to get the famous photo with his smart phone.

                

                                       

             

The Azalea City Trail

We made a stop at Valdosta to visit Irene’s niece and her girls, but they were sick. So, we spent the afternoon checking out Valdosta’s recreational trail. The trail runs SW to NE.and is generally located in the Valdosta State University area. It is quite convoluted with many turns and sometimes use of sidewalks. We started at the SW end in a residential area. The trail then follows a creek to the VSU campus and runs along the north side of Sunset Hill Cemetery and Drexel Park. It then crosses N. Ashley Street and ends just the other side of Vallotton Park, a total distance just short of 3 miles.

             

           

Back to Jacksonville

We retraced I-10 all the way back to Jacksonville from Pensacola. There we attended a joint Country Coach International/Southeast Country Coachers rally.

One day we biked the Jacksonville-Baldwin trail with friends Jack and Mary Lou.

              

            

After the ride Irene and George went downtown to ride the water front trail.

              

             

George was pleased to see some train action.

            

            

Pensacola

From the Florida Grande we headed to Pensacola to take Irene to a flower show judges’ symposium for additional training and accreditation.
While there we took the opportunity to visit the excellent naval air museum located at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. We called upon the museum director, Captain Bob Rasmussen, and thanked him for the statue of Admiral John Towers that he did for Rome.
Captain Rasmussen is a former Blue Angels pilot who is also an accomplished artist. He made a statute of Admiral John Towers for the City of Rome.  Below is a picture of Captain Rasmussen:
           
 

                                 


Admiral Towers, a native of Rome, was a pioneer of Naval aviation.
Admiral Towers Plaza in Rome:
            
Admiral Towers proposed and planned the first air crossing of the Atlantic with intermediate stops during WW I. He commanded a flotilla of three Curtiss NC flying boats, and we saw his NC-4 at the museum.
            
                          
                                                        "Touchable" Display

                       

Strawberry Festival at Floral City

Moving north from Lakeland we visited our friends Wilson and Delores who have a “pad” at the Florida Grande Resort in central Florida at Webster. This was our base for a visit to the Withlacoochee Trail.

          

From Webster we headed west to Floral City. We parked north of town at Fort Cooper State Park and rode south to Floral city and had an obligatory lunch at the Shamrock Inn.

                

Then we continued south on the Withlacoochee Trail for a visit to the local strawberry festival.

                 

              

Unfortunately, though a staunch member of Funnel Cakes Anonymous, George fell off the wagon again.

              

Van Fleet Trail at Lakeland

We had an appointment at Fountain RV in Lakeland to have some windows resealed. Despite knowing their shop was closed down by state labor authorities, they allowed us to come to the shop only to be told no work could be performed. Despite this we made the best of the situation by taking the opportunity to visit the nearby Van Fleet State Trail.

           

Much of the trail was through wooded areas and pastures.

             

Most pastures had cattle, but some had, surprisingly, alpacas.

           

           

Alpacas weren’t the only surprise along the Van Fleet Trail.  It was grand in its day!